Commitment to ensuring the Clinical Trials Action Group recommendations are implemented in full as soon as possible.

The issue

A thriving and vibrant clinical trials program
in every treatment centre, enhances medicine for everyone – patients, health professionals,
researchers, students, government, health care funders, and industry. Red tape
is reducing the attractiveness of Australia as a venue for clinical trials and
threatens the future of clinical trials in Australia.

It is a great concern for the Leukaemia
Foundation that as a consequence, Australian blood cancer patients are missing
out on accessing trials and new therapies.

What we know

Our patient surveys demonstrate one of the most effective ways
for people to access new targeted therapies not yet available on the PBS, is
through clinical trials.

Although Australia is only a small part (1-2%) of the global
pharmaceutical market (Medicines Australia Facts Book
3 p.54), it is attractive for clinical research because of
its internationally recognised strengths - the high quality of medical practice
and clinical research environment, and a good health system which is well
integrated with health and medical research, education and training.

A clinical trials survey (Clinical Trials Action Group
Report (2011)Clinically competitive: Boosting the business of clinical trials
in Australia) showed patient recruitment
delays in 90% of industry sponsored trials in Australia indicated that more
efficient and effective recruitment strategies are essential.

Clinical trials are research activities involving humans so
safety and ethical considerations make the governance of trials complex.

In June 2010, a government report by the Clinical Trials
Action Group made six recommendations to the then Minister to improve clinical
trials in Australia. These were to:

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